Mozambique has made it a priority to address its high maternal death rate and its high adolescent pregnancy rate. Access to quality sexual and reproductive health information, services, prenatal services, and delivery services is limited, particularly in rural areas across the country.

This project will help find sustainable solutions to these challenges in Nampula province’s rural Natikiri district. Researchers collaborated closely with the surrounding community, the local hospital, and provincial and national ministries of health to prioritize health problems and develop a set of innovative interventions.

The project will cost and assess the impact of a community-owned motorcycle ambulance service and of scaled-up access to reproductive health outreach services and community hospital emergency delivery services. Strengthening the capacity of maternity staff, enhancing emergency obstetrical and outreach services, and advancing efforts to eliminate illicit charges to clients should contribute to strengthening and improving the quality of provincial maternal health services.

An action research methodology based on intervention implementation and ongoing monitoring will be applied to cost interventions, identify lessons to improve ongoing implementation, and assess impact. Results will be shared with clinics and officials in the province and at the national level to promote wider application and adoption. Scientific publications will be produced and findings will be shared at national and international conferences.

This project will be implemented with the collaboration of the University of Saskatchewan and the Universidade Lúrio in Mozambique. It is part of, and will contribute to, the goals of the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa program by improving the scale of access to services for pregnant women in Mozambique through innovation and community engagement.

The Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa (IMCHA) program is a seven-year, $36 million initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada, IDRC, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.